Pa Daly
Question:822. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the approximate number of applicants for international protection to whom the Dublin Regulation applied in each of the years 2015 to 2020. [17098/21]
View answerDáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
822. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the approximate number of applicants for international protection to whom the Dublin Regulation applied in each of the years 2015 to 2020. [17098/21]
View answerThe Dublin III Regulation determines which EU Member State is responsible for examining an international protection application. It is based on the principle that the first Member State to facilitate entry into the EU should be responsible for examining the protection application. The objective of the Dublin Regulation is to ensure quick access to asylum procedures and the examination of an application on the merits by a single, clearly determined Member State.
The Dublin Unit of the International Protection Office (IPO) in the Immigration Service of my Department is responsible for determining whether an applicant should be transferred to another Member State (known as an outgoing transfer request) or have their application assessed in Ireland. The Unit also responds to requests from other Member States to transfer applicants to Ireland (known as an incoming transfer request).
Traditionally, a number of the transfer decisions made in this country have been to the UK, which was still bound by the EU Regulation until the end of 2020, under the transitional arrangements of the Withdrawal Agreement. Dublin Regulation transfers to the UK cannot now take place following the end of the transitional arrangements.
The table below sets out the number of Dublin Regulation transfer requests processed by the IPO and the number of people subject to a transfer order that were transferred from the State.
Year |
Transfer Decisions issued by the IPO |
Applicants subject to a Transfer Order and transferred to the UK |
Applicants subject to a Transfer Order and transferred to another EU Member State |
2015 |
302 |
17 |
2 |
2016 |
594 |
42 |
0 |
2017 |
3 |
55 |
1 |
2018 |
251 |
17 |
5 |
2019 |
817 |
28 |
2 |
2020 |
310 |
8 |
1 |
TOTALS |
2,277 |
167 |
11 |
The table below sets out the number of incoming transfer requests accepted by the IPO under the Dublin III Regulations and the number of people transferred to Ireland to have their applications examined.
Year |
Incoming Transfer Requests Accepted by the IPO |
Transferred to Ireland |
2015 |
112 |
53 |
2016 |
133 |
61 |
2017 |
193 |
55 |
2018 |
180 |
34 |
2019 |
84 |
23 |
2020 |
102 |
11 |
TOTAL |
804 |
237 |